20 Blues Covers That Just Might Change Your Life

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A friend of mine once observed, “You can’t forget the blues.” That is especially true in Chicago where this city offers the biggest free Blues Festival in the world this weekend.

Since Chicago Blues were the source of so much music that came out of the British Invasion, I thought we could come up with a list of 20 blues covers done by rock artists that just might change your life.

[lastfm]Savoy Brown[/lastfm]-Louisiana Blues.
A jam in the finest British rock tradition. Gotta love that Kim Simmonds.

[lastfm]Ellen McIlwaine[/lastfm]-Crawling Kingsnake.
There’s a more recent version (2006), but you need to seek out the version from the album “Up From The Skies.” Just Ellen on vocals.

[lastfm]Stevie Ray Vaughan[/lastfm]-Mary Had A Little Lamb.
Buddy Guy turned a nursery rhyme into a blues classic and then Stevie made it a show-stopper.

[lastfm]Derek and the Dominoes[/lastfm]-Have You Ever Loved A Woman.
You could do a legitimate Clapton top 20 blues covers, but for all the work he’s done in the idiom, nothing compares to this Duane Allman and Eric Clapton summit. This is how you woo your best friend’s wife. If you’re into that sort of thing.

[lastfm]Bonnie Raitt[/lastfm]-Women Be Wise.
Bonnie’s debut is bursting with blues covers. I’ve always been partial to this Sippie Wallace number.

[lastfm]J. Geils Band[/lastfm]-Homework.
Otis Rush’s best known song done by these Beantown blues lovers.

[lastfm]Rory Gallagher[/lastfm]-Bullfrog Blues.
From Live in Europe. Please, I’m begging you, take a look at the live version on Youtube sometime. You’ll understand why all these people go off when Rory’s name is mentioned.

[lastfm]Jeff Beck[/lastfm]-Rollin’ and Tumblin.’
What about “I Ain’t Superstitious?” Dude, Imogen Heap’s vocals on this version are not to be trifled with. And Jeff is, well, Jeff.

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